Until We Burn | Dr Who

Chapter Fifteen: Beautiful

Sprinting after Cassandra and her new friend — a limping man with a complexion just as white and pasty as his baggy tunic and trousers — , the Doctor and I barely dodge the bursts of sparks erupting from each pod's control panel. They swing open behind us.

We pause for just a second but I cannot catch my breath, not when I can see out across the vast room. Every single patient emerges from their confines, free but deadly.

The blonde lets out a dramatic gasp, "Oh my God!"

"What the hell have you done?"

"It wasn't me!"

A series of low groans come from the nearest stairwell. The patients are almost here. "One touch and you get every disease in the world! And I want that body safe, Cassandra. We've got to go down."

She whimpers, "But there's thousands of them."

"Run. Run! Go down!"

"This building is under quarantine," the speakers blare. "This building is under quarantine."

Grabbing her wrist, I drag her along with me. Her cries for me to slow down fall short of my ears. I can be incredibly fast when I want to be and now is the best time for it. Pulling her with me, I lead the group down the stairs a few at a time, using the railings to push myself further.

The stairs lead us down to what looks like a basement. Tearing herself free from my grip, Cassandra hurries over to the lifts with her friend in tow. "No," the Doctor shouts, "the lifts have closed down. That's the quarantine, nothing's moving."

"This way!"

Now we follow her instead, right back in the direction that we came from. I narrowly manage to dodge some patients shuffling into the basement.

A cry brings me to a halt. The man is cornered, unable to pass through the doorway to join us. They're getting closer. "Leave him!" Cassandra shrieks. She pulls the Doctor and I along. "He's a clone thing, he's only got a half-life. Come on."

She starts to run but I can't. My gaze meets the Doctor's. "Inara," he begins, eyes widening in realisation. "Inara, wait. Don't you dare!"

"See you later, okay? Get our Rose back." Giving him the most convincing smile I can manage, I close his fingers around the sonic and shove him away.

"Wait!"

The pale man begins to wail again. There is only so far he can move until there is nowhere to go. My mind swarms with panicked thoughts. Quelling them with a muttered curse, I snatch up a pebble from the ground and hurl it at the closest patient. "Oi! You don't want him, okay? You want me. Come for me, yeah? Come on!"

Slowly, their attention shifts onto me. They begin to amble in my direction.

I just catch a glimpse of the man jumping down what looks like a chute, disappearing from sight, before I break into a run. Their voices follow me in monotonous pleads for help. And I want to, I do, but I can't. If I stop, if they touch me, I'm dead.

So I keep running. A small flight of stairs lead me through a doorway. I slam it shut behind me, moments before they start to beat their fists on it. A broken off pipe jammed through the handle should hold them for a bit.

"This isn't it," I mutter to myself. "No bloody way. I'm fine. I'm smart and I'm fine. Think, think, think."

The room is tiny, no exits. Just a ladder.

—

I am not sure how long I spend climbing. A downwards glance proves that I have only travelled up a few floors but it feels like far more. The ground below is empty as far as I can see. It won't be long, though.